One1ii Had Moved!!!

Hey, same blog, new location

Cows Come Home To NOTSOX

Let me tell you a story, a story about a place, and about a group of people that I love. Anybody who reads this blog knows that I lived in Burlington, VT for about 5 years. So far the years I spent there were the happiest in my life. Here is a place where you know your neighbor. People are so friendly, honest, open, and accepting that sometimes, to an outsider, it can be unnerving. When I first moved there I was confused as to why cars would stop if you were standing on the side of the road. It took me month to realize that they were waiting for me to cross. It's the type of place where at the end of the day kindness and human decency trumps all.

In that city there is a small but devoted group of kids that make movies and documentaries. They are called NOTSOX. They just finished a project about a public art piece that really captures the spirit of the city, and I think it captures their spirit as well. Working with them when I was up in Vermont was one of my chief pleasures. I'm proud to have been able to help them a little with this project as well.

This is the way that Filmmaking should be. Please take the time to watch their short. You'll be glad you did.

Our Cow Comes Home from Jeff White on Vimeo.

Link to NOTSOX

Satire, the other white meat.

Review of The Radio Bean and ¡Duino! (Duende)

Radio Bean on the Web

What's the deal?: Mention Vermont to any east coaster and certain topics are sure to come up: Ben & Jerry's, Phish, communes, and great skiing. Locals know different. Just off the beaten path in the Queen city on North Winooski Ave is the venerable Radio Bean, a hipster institution well known for their heady cocktail menu, damn fine coffee, and great live music. At a certain point though, even the most bohemian of locals is going to have to eat, and now they need to go no further than right next door. Lee Anderson, the community driven, Radio Bean owner has now expanded into the the former tortilla restaurant next door. ¡Duino! (Duende) is a hotspot of international street food at prices even a poet can afford. (I.E. very, very reasonable.)

Field Notes: Relying as much as they can on local ingredients ¡Duino! (Duende) manages to put a new spin on old favorites. Their "Frietjes" are bomb, even boasting homemade ketchup with a hint of banana, the perfect balance between delicious saltiness and exotic sweetness. Another strong menu offering is the "Kofta Slider" a locally farmed lamb burger mixed with couscous, spices and dried fruit that is served on middle eastern manakeesh, with fried onions, labnhi and arugula. In a similar vein is the "Seperatist Slider." Touching on the unique character and rebellious leanings of Vermont, this slider is a far cry from the Kofta. Grilled beef with red onion maple marmalade ketchup, arugula, and homemade dill pickles makes for a savory indulgence. On my last visit I opted for the "Shin Ramyun." The powerfully spicy Korean soup with delicious traditional noodles. The slightly crisp vegetables give the spicy broth a great balance and the kimchi is some of the best I've had from the states.
The cocktail menu is innovative without being pretentious, and they have a fairly wide selection of beers on tap. My favorite is the "Hot Tottie." ¡Duino! and the Radio Bean took the golden girls favorite of whisky, honey, and lemon a step further with a twist of ginger. It's a cold and flu killer, and the perfect drink to get you through the cold Vermont nights. The real star of the cocktail menu though is the "Five Dollar Shake." An ingenious blend of stout and espresso with a swirl of maple syrup that perches on the stout's foam head. It's a grown up, caffeinated pint of heaven.

The second best thing about ¡Duino!, next to the food, is the ambiance. The decor, which is mostly scavenged and hand built, calls to mind a combination of beatnik paradise and mexican brothel, which may or may not be the same thing. Making an effort to be sustainable and local friendly is something that seems to be at the top of the list at ¡Duino! (Duende), and that helps make it the heart of Burlington's thriving music and art community.


Menu Highlights:
"Evil Jungle Princess Ceviche"
A selection of fresh fish imported by Wood Mountain Fish Company marinated in citrus juices with avocado, thai basil, lemongrass & mangoes served with crispy things $10

"Old World Burro"
Avocado, queso blanco, black beans, sour cream, & salsa bandera in a flour tortilla $7

"Flourless Chocolate Cake"
A rich dark chocolate cake with a strawberry rhubarb zinfandel sauce topped with fresh whipped cream $5

Special Events:
Live music every night of the week
Monday: No guitar open mic
Tuesday: Honky Tonk night! A raucous celebration with a serious dose of down home fun. Frequent contributors are Gordon Stone, from the Gordon Stone Band and Mike Gordon from Phish.
Friday and Saturday: Local and touring acts, check the Radio Bean's website for specifics

If movie posters were honest....

More Hilarity Here

RIP Dennis Hopper 1936-2010

Article About His Death
Fishing With John: The Dennis Hopper Episode

For Allen G

If knowledge is power than I am building a bomb in the garage. I go out there after work and family dinner, faithfully tinkering with my city killer. In America, nobody notices, because the rich are busy pretending to be poor as if poverty were street credit in a game you feign not to win. The poor too though, are counterfeiting wealth, a cubic zirconium nightmare. They front knowing the ladder's rules but the real manual comes at the price of a silver spoon. Yes, flesh has always been currency but we are running out, and with inflation there is more silicon, more plastic, and we are going into debt. Silver spoons make for broken teeth.

I am looking for special deals on answers at James Dean's five and dime. I'm going to run off and join a circus, train swine to dance in dresses. It won't be hard, even a pig owns a dress these days. Everybody takes the train into the city, they pine, they ail on vinyl seats. Ever take the train into the city? Commute sweat smells like anxiety. It smells like sickly yellow and formaldehyde. Even a corpse hates the smell of formaldehyde. All the children on the subway are malformed and have demerits. But not the good kind that makes you look like a badass. The kind that means when you grow up, you'll still have issues and they wont be in style anymore.

Nobody in my generation wants to be present, preferring a state of perpetual adolescence. I advise youth to die before you get old. Who takes that advice? The bald eagle's young are cultural cannibals. Princely avifauna. Do you know about the vulture? It gorges itself until it is too heavy and then has to vomit to fly. Bulimia bird. They will reprocess dead punk, dead dance music; pretend that reassembly means transcendence.

The rain pelts these old streets, and the smell of wet asphalt perfuses everything, and everything is washed down the drain. At night, I crawl on my belly and siphon gas from car's tanks. Just to make it north to freedom, to see my love. This love is pure from faith, eyes closed echoing forward, entwined by the sound.

If knowledge is power than I am building a bomb in my garage.
Such a dirty bomb.

Errol Morris called it the greatest commercial of all time.

The Most Awesome and Epic Local Commercial Ever

Tom Waits and Jim Jarmusch

2 out of my 3 favorite guys



The third being a certain "last prophet of rock"